About the upgrade to Klaviyo's text only editor

You will learn

Learn about Klaviyo's upgrade to the text only editor used in email templates, including what changed, what to expect, and how to review existing templates.

Overview

Klaviyo has upgraded the text only editor used in email templates. This change improves the reliability and consistency of how your email content is processed, and includes new features such as the Django Tag Builder, a visual tool for adding dynamic tags to your emails.

When you open an existing text only template, you may be asked to review it before editing. You can compare the text only version with the original HTML and choose which editor to use.

What changed

The text only editor lets you create emails with simple layouts, text formatting, and images. It is separate from the editor for an email's plain-text version. The upgrade replaces the underlying editor with an improved version that handles your email content more consistently and adds new features.

Impact on existing templates

For almost all accounts, this change is seamless with no visual differences to your templates. A small number of templates may have minor visual or layout differences after the upgrade. In very rare cases, templates with complex content, such as custom styling, tables, or embedded style tags, may not be fully convertible. You can choose an HTML template instead to preserve the original content and styling while giving you direct control over the code.

Preview text

In the previous text only editor, you had to add preview text manually as HTML. The upgraded editor has a dedicated Preview text field. Enter the text you want to appear beside the subject line in a recipient's inbox. If you leave the field blank, the inbox uses the start of your email content. To hide preview text, select Show no preview text. Click Save to save your changes.

Working with templates after the upgrade

• Review any visual or layout differences before saving an existing template in the upgraded text only editor.
• You can continue building and editing emails with text formatting, images, and personalization in the text only editor.
• If your template is converted to an HTML template, your content remains intact and can be edited directly.

About source code view

As part of this upgrade, the source code view has been removed from the text only editor.

If you need to work with custom HTML in your emails, use a dedicated HTML template designed for this purpose. The HTML template gives you full control over your code.

To add and edit Django tags in your text only emails, use the Django Tag Builder. It provides visual controls for conditions and loops. Custom tags and conditions that the visual controls cannot represent require code within the builder.

Check formatting before choosing an editor

Before choosing an editor for an existing text only template, review templates that include:

• Custom HTML or inline style tags
• Tables
• Heavily customized formatting that goes beyond standard text styling

For templates in this category, compare both previews carefully. Choose HTML if you need to preserve custom code or formatting that the text only editor does not support. If you prefer the text only editor, check the adjusted version before confirming your choice.

Review an existing template

If a Review screen opens or a notice asks you to review your template, compare the versions before choosing an editor. Once you save and confirm your choice, you cannot switch between the text only and HTML editors for that template.

1. If the review screen is not already open, click Review in the notice or Review and save at the top of the editor.
2. Compare the Text only and HTML previews. Select Text only to use the upgraded editor with adjusted formatting, or HTML to preserve the original content and styling and edit the code directly.
3. Click Save. Read the confirmation, then click Save again to confirm your choice.

If you choose Text only, the editor reloads with the saved version so you can continue editing. If you choose HTML, the template opens in the HTML editor with its original content and styling preserved.

Additional resources